House
Bill 4799 would, generally speaking,
amend the Michigan Penal Code to prohibit coercing a pregnant female into
having an abortion against her will and to provide criminal penalties.

Under the bill, a person
having actual knowledge that a female individual is pregnant could not do any
of the following with the intent to coerce her to have an abortion against her
will:

(1) Commit, attempt to
commit, or maliciously threaten to commit any of the following violations
against her or any other person:

-- A violation of Section
411h (stalking) or Section 411I (aggravated stalking) of the Penal Code.

-- An assaultive crime.

(2) After being informed by a
pregnant female that she does not want to obtain an abortion, any of the
following:

-- Discontinue, attempt to
discontinue, or maliciously threaten to discontinue support that the person has
a legal responsibility to provide or reduce support to a level below that
responsibility.

--Withdraw, attempt to
withdraw, or maliciously threaten to withdraw from a contract or agreement or otherwise
violate the terms of that contract or agreement having previously entered into
a contract or other legally binding agreement to which the pregnant female is a
beneficiary.

-- Discharge or threaten to
discharge her from employment.

Under the bill, information
that a pregnant female does not want to obtain an abortion includes any
statement or act, including inaction, that would clearly demonstrate to a
reasonable person that she is unwilling to comply with a request or demand to
have an abortion.

A person who violates the
provisions of the bill would be guilty of a crime as follows.

** For a violation of the
stalking or assaultive crime provisions, the person would be guilty of a crime
punishable in the same manner as for the underlying offense committed,
attempted, or maliciously threatened.

** For a violation of the
other offenses, the person would be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a
fine of not more than $5,000. However, if the person is the father or putative
father of the unborn child, the pregnant individual is less than 18 years old
at the time of the violation, and the person is 18 years of age or older at the
time of the violation, the person would be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable
by a fine of not more than $10,000.

If requested by the pregnant
female, a law enforcement agency investigation of a violation of the bill's
provisions would have to notify the pregnant female not less than 24 hours
before initially contacting the person specifically alleged to have coerced or
intimidated her.

The bill would not prevent a
person from being charged with, convicted of, or punished for any crime
committed while violating the bill's provisions. The court could order terms
of imprisonment for a violation of the bill's provisions to be served
consecutively to any other term of imprisonment imposed for a violation of law
committed while violating the bill.

House Bill 4798 would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure (MCL
777.16l) to make a complementary amendment to sentencing guideline
provisions.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The
bills would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on the state and local units of
government. To the extent that the bills resulted in additional convictions
related to stalking or assaultive crimes, the state could experience increased
costs of prison incarceration, which currently average about $34,000 per
prisoner per year, and felony probation supervision, at about $2,100 per
supervised offender per year. Counties could experience increased costs due to
jail sentences imposed; those costs vary from county to county, as does the
cost of misdemeanor probation supervision. It is not clear, however, that the
bills create any new felony convictions that could not be prosecuted under
current law.

Any
increase in penal fine revenues related to the other misdemeanor offenses
created in the bill could benefit local libraries, which are the
constitutionally-designated recipients of those revenues.

Legislative
Analyst: E. Best

Fiscal
Analyst: Bob Schneider

■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff
for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an
official statement of legislative intent.